Files for documents, pamphlets and the like



Jam 17, 1967 c. E. GRUNDELL FILES FOR DOCUMENTS, PAMPHLETS .AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 24, 1964 INVENTOR. C041. E/e/K GEO/(DELL. v

Jan. 17,1967 I C.E.GRUNDE;LL 3,298,374

FILES FOR DOCUMENTS, PAMPHLE TS AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 24, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

. C444 GWADE'U.

United States l atent 3,298,374 FILES FOR DOCUMENTS, PAMPHLET S AND THE LIKE Carl Erik Grundell, Osmogatan 8, Enskede, Sweden Filed Sept. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 398,961 Claims priority, application Sweden, (let. 3, 1963, 10,838/ 63 6 Claims. (Cl. 1291) This invention relates to files for documents, letters, pamphlets, cards and the like and has for its main object to provide improved appliances for rather different filing purposes which are easy to handle, practical in use, elegant in appearance and easy to select when put together in an archive but which are yet inexpensive to manufacture.

More particularly the invention is concerned with filing appliances of the kind comprising in combination a folded member made of thin but relatively rigid sheet material, preferably cardboard, sheet plastic or the like, and presenting an elongate attachment portion formed by folding said sheet material along a number of parallel folding lines and a stiffening channel bar member presenting a longitudinaly extending undercut groove into which said attachment portion of said folded member may be slid longitudinally to become removably retained in order to ordinarily secure said channel bar member to said folded member, and it is an object of the invention to provide novel and improved means in such assemblies in order to make the connection between the members more reliable and the formation of the attachment portion of the folded member very simple and cheap particularly by avoiding all kinds of glueing and tacking when forming the same.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved assembly of the type referred to in which the attachment portion of the folded member presents a substantially fiat exterior surface portion bearing reference markings or text which are made visible through the bottom wall portion of the channel bar member and thus remain protected against inadvertent changes or wear, the channel bar member being for this purpose made of transparent material, such as clear plastic, and preferably also having its bottom wall portion designed to act as a magnifying lens to facilitatereading of such markings or text.

Within the scope of the invention the folded member may itself form a folder or holder in which the documents to be filed can be kept fastened by any suitable means as in a book or it may form a pocket or portfolio in which the documents or other articles to be filed can be collected loosely. The folded member may also form only a part of such folder, holder, pocket or portfolio which may be connected to the rest thereof at will. In many cases the channel bar member may be of the same length as the folded member to simply stiffen the latter and protect the markings et cetera thereon but in certain other cases the channel bar member may also have for its purpose to support the file in suspended position on racks or rails, such as in a stand or a cabinet, or between the walls of a drawer, at least the one end of the channel bar member then extending beyond the end of the folded member and being, preferably, completed with a hook member inserted and frictionally retained in the end of the channel bar groove and protruding through the longitudinal opening thereof.

In accordance with the invention a filing appliance of the kind hereinbefore referred to is characterized mainly by the fact that the groove in the channel bar member has a T-shaped cross section presenting an accentuated transition between the laterally extending shanks and the central stem, a substantially greater width counted between the outer ends of the shanks as compared with the thickness of the central stem and also a relatively small thickness of the shanks as compared therewith and in that the ice attachment portion of the folded member is formed by mere folding of the sheet material thereof to closely follow the contour of at least the enlarged inner or bottommost portion of said T-shaped groove so that retention of said attachment portion, when slid into said groove, is mainly effected by the inability of said portion to deform within the embracing channel bar member.

For further elucidation of the invention reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected number of preferred embodiments thereof. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a preferred type of channel bar member forming part of a file according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a similar cross section of the attachment portion of a folded member made of relatively stiff sheet material such as cardboard or sheet plastic and also forming part of a file according to the invention,

FIG. 3 is a cross section showing the folded member portion of FIG. 2 inserted in the channel bar member of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top view of a folded member as of FIG. 2 partly inserted in a channel bar member as of FIG. 1 to particularly illustrate the magnifying properties ofthe latter,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a complete file assembly according to the invention in which the folded member forms a pair of relatively narrow flanges or flaps between which the reference material to be filed is inserted and retained by means of button fasteners,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing how the end-or endsof a channel bar member forming part of a file according to the invention can extend beyond the related folded member to support the file in suspended position between suitable rails or the like,

FIG. 7 is a side view of a complete suspended file of the type referred to in FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 shows a sectional elevation of a pocket type suspended file utilizing a pair of channel bar members embracing each one of two attachment portions formed at the opposite marginals of a single folded member,

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating different possibilities to apply text or other identification markings on the flat top surface of the attachment portion of the folded member,

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of the file assembly shown in FIG. 5,

FIG. 11 is a side view of a folder type file adapted for being suspended in an inclined position on a rack and also presenting modified means for fastening the documents therein,

FIG. 12 is an enlarged cross section taken along the line XIIXII in FIG. 11,

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a hook member of the type inserted into the upper end of the channel bar member shown in FIG. 11 to permit hanging the file on a rail,

FIG. 14 is a partial end view of a suspended pocket file of the so called accordion type in which the folded member secured to the channel bar members serves as a holder for two separate pocket forming sheets of paper or cardboard, and

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating how the one end of such a pocket forming sheet is connected to the folded member and hence to the related supporting channel bar member in the file system.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 1-3 it appears that the main parts of a file falling within the scope of this invention is a channel bar member 1 combined with a folded member 2 formed with an elongate attachment portion generally designated by numeral 3. The channel bar member 1, which may be advantageously produced by extrusion and which is preferably, but not necessarily,

made of glass-clear or at least transparent plastic, such as acrylic resin, of sufficient hardness to form rather rigid bars at least in lengths up to a foot and a half, presents a longitudinally extending groove 4 of distinctly T-shaped cross section having laterally extending shanks of smaller thickness than the stem and a substantial width counted between the outer ends of the shanks as compared with the thickness of the stem. It has been found particularly important that the corners 4' are accentuated although they need and must not be so sharp that they damage the attachment portion 3 of the folded member 2. The top portion 5 of the channel bar member-which is in fact the bottom wall portion of the groove 4has a substantially plano-convex or meniscal cross section to act as a magnifying lens as illustrated in FIG. 4 so that any marking, printing or identification means applied to the substantially flat top surface 6 of the attachment portion 3 will be easily readable therethrough.

The folded member 2 is made of relatively stiff sheet material such as carboard or sheet plastic and the attachment portion 3 thereof is formed by mere folding of said sheet materialno glueing or tacking being used-rather sharply along two parallel main folding lines 7 and 8 so that an elongate channel section having a substantially flat bottom and externally concave side walls is obtained. It is essential that the distance between the two folding lines 7 and 8 is carefully adapted to the width of the inner enlargement of the T-groove 4 so that the attachment portion 3 will snugly fit therein when slid longitudinally into the groove through the one end of the channel bar member. It is also important that the sheet material of the folded member 2 is sufiiciently stiflbut yet foldable-to let the attachment portion 3 maintain its cross sectional shape substantially undeformed when the folded member is subjected to a pull tending to extract the attachment portion through the longitudinal opening of the groove 4. Since, however, the width of said opening is rather small in practice, say ordinarily not more than two tenths of an inch, and all the other dimensions proportional thereto, the selection of the sheet material is in no way serious but ordinary cardboard commonly used in folders will do perfectly well as will their obvious equivalents within the group of sheet plastic materials.

It is to be noted that a careful shaping of the side walls of the attachment portion 3 is not necessary because they will adjust themselves during the entry of the attachment portion in the groove. This fact makes the attachment portion extremely simple to produce and, since no inserts, fillings or other additions are needed to complete the attachment portion, the folded member can be very cheaply manufactured and also delivered to the consumer in a flattened out, space-saving form. The folded member may also be readily printed on in an ordinary printing press or inserted in a typewriter for marking wherever desiredeven on the top surface 6without any interference from thickened portions, staples or other reinforcing means in or near the attachment portion or portions.

It has been found most appropriate to let both side walls of the channel section formed by the attachment portion 3 extend through the longitudinal opening of the groove 4 such as in FIGS. 5, 6, and 14-15 respectively to assist in carrying the load but it is also possible to cut the one wall substantially in line with the mouth of :said opening such as in FIG. 8 or even inside said mouth. As an extreme inner limit the one side wall can be cut away entirelyor otherwise omittedbut in such a case the markings etcetera on the top surface 6 of the attachment portion 3 can easily become distorted when viewed through the top portion 5 of the channel bar member 1 because of deficient contact between said surface and the bottom of the groove 4 and such a reduced attachment portion will not be able to take up the same heavy load or extractive pull as a more complete one.

From FIG. 5 it appears that the channel bar member 1 and the folded member 2 may be of the same 1engththe channel bar member forming a sort of stiffening backbone and also a protective sheathing for the elongate attachment portion 3. In this particular case the folded member 2 forms a pair of relatively narrow flanges or flaps 9 between which papers, pamphlets or similar reference material 10 is inserted and fastened by means of button type fasteners 11 passing through holes in the flanges 9 as well as in the papers 10. Although the flanges 9 are shown to be rather narrow in this case, they may, of course, be extended over-and beyond, if desired-the entire front and rear side of the papers 10 so that the folded member 2 will form not only a holder but a complete folder or cover comparable in that respect with the file shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

If it is desirable to store the file in suspended position between rails 12 as in FIGS. 6 and 7, the channel bar member 1 may be of slightly greater length than the folded member 2 to present free end portions capable of resting on top of the rails-or any other suitable supports such as the side walls of a drawer. In such a case it may be advantageous to insert in the one or both ends of the channel bar member 1 a kind of stopper 13 which fits the groove 4 and may be frictionally retained therein. The stopper 13 has a hook or ear 13' projecting through the longitudinal opening of the groove 4 and preventing the channel bar member 1 from falling down from the rails 12. A modified but generally similar form of stopper will be described in connection with FIG. 13.

In FIG. 8 there is shown another type of suspended file, known as an open pocket file in which reference material or other articles may be collected without being in any way fastened. This type of file requires the support of two channel bar members 1' for each pocket formed by the folded member 14 and the latter must, of course, be provided with one attachment portion 3 for each chan nel bar member. However, the folded member 14 may be extended to form several pockets, if so desired, in which case a so called accordion type of pocket filing system is obtained in which adjacent pockets are separated by a common supporting channel bar member.

As mentioned already in connection with FIGS. 1-4 the top surface 6 of the attachment portion 3 formed by the folded member 2 is intended to bear suitable kinds of file identification matters such as markings or text. From FIG. 9 it appears that text and indication lines may be printed or written directly on the surface 6, such as at 15 and 16 respectively, and that small colored thumb-tacks, such as at 17, may advantageously be used as movable indication means. Common labels of different kinds may, of course, also be used. As a further possibility, holes 18 may be provided at suitable intervals in the surface 6 to take up the ends of strips 19 of cardboard or like material which may be printed or colored and which will extend longitudinally over the top surface 6 to become exposed through the channel bar member 1 when the latter is slid in over the attachment portion 3 to protect the markings.

In FIG. 10 there is illustrated a modified form of the file of FIG. 5 in which the button fasteners are replaced by a flexible strip or string 20 zigzagging through holes in the documents 21 to be fastened and in the inner portions 22 of the flaps or flanges formed by the folded member. The outer portions 23 of said fiaps or flanges are then folded back to conceal the strip 20 and keep it in place, while the margins of the outer flap portions 23 are locked within the longitudinal opening of the channel bar member 1 as shown. In this manner a very neat document holder is obtained at a low cost. If desired, the ends of the channel bar member 1 may also in this case be extended to support the file on rails or in a drawer.

As will appear from FIG. 11 it may sometimes be desirable to suspend a file in an inclined position from a supporting rail 25 with or without a further support from a lower rail 26. In such a case at least the upper end of the channel bar member 1 must be extended and a stopper 27 having a hook-like projection 27'see also FIG. 13-is inserted in the open end of the channel bar groove similarly as in FIG. 6. The stopper 27 is preferably designed to wedge into the groove and become retained therein by friction but it may also be glued in place or fastened in any other appropriate manner.

The file of FIG. 11 is of a rather advanced design as will also appear from FIG. 12. The folded member forms a complete cover 28 for the papers 29 to be filed and the front portion of the cover forms a glued or stapled fold 30 which like the back portion of the cover is provided with holes corresponding to punched holes in the papers 29. Flexible fiat pieces 31 of plastic are inserted between the back portion of the cover 28 and the channel bar member 1 and each such piece present an elongated tongue 31 threaded through the related series of holes as shown and having its free end portion extending downwardly inside the front portion of the cover 28. When a file of this type is opened, the tongues 31 may be slightly retracted through the fold 30 to fOiIHl rather slack coils permitting easy turning over of the different papers 29 and the papers can very easily be replaced when desired.

In the embodiments of the invention hereinbefore described the folded member itself forms a holder, cover or pocket for receiving the documents to be filed. This is not necessary as will appear from FIGS. 14 and 15 wherein the folded member 32 presenting the usual attachment portion 3 retained in the channel bar member 1 is formed with inturned flanges 33 and serves as a hanger for separate pocket forming sheets 34. The upper margins 35 of each such sheet 34 is folded back to be received in said hanger as illustratedthe channel bar member 1 then also assisting in keeping the folds erect. It thus appears from FIGS. 14 and 15 as well as from FIGS. and 12 respectively that the channel bar member may be used also for other purposes than simply protecting and forming a backbone for the attachment portion of the folded member.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that still further modified forms of filing appliances may be based on the very same inventive conception. Therefore, the selected examples given in this application must not in any way be considered to limit the scope of the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. In a filing appliance the combination of a folded member made of thin but relatively rigid sheet material, said folded member presenting an elongate attachment portion formed by mere folding of said sheet material along a number of parallel folding lines, and

a channel bar member of transparent material having a longitudinally extending groove therein for receiving said attachment portion of the folded member, said groove of the channel bar member extending along the full length thereof and having a T-shaped cross-section presenting sharp corners between the laterally extending shanks and the stem of the T, and T-shaped cross-section having a width between the outer ends of the shanks that is substantially greater than the thickness of the stem and a thickness of the shanks that is relatively small as compared with said stem thickness,

said attachment portion of the folded member taking the form of an open-ended thinwalled trough having a cross-section substantially conforming to inside contour of said T-shaped groove of the channel bar member and presenting a substantially flat bottom, the external width of which substantially corresponds to said width between the outer ends of said shanks of the T-shaped cross-section of said groove and substantially exceeds the stem thickness thereof, and externally concave side walls substantially accommodating themselves to the inner side wall contour of said T-shaped groove and both extending out through the longitudinal opening of said groove, said attachment portion of the folded member having external markings thereon visible through the bottom wall portion of said T-shaped groove of the channel bar member.

2. In a filling appliance the combination as claimed in claim 1; wherein said transparent bottom wall portion of the channel bar member is shaped to act as a magnifying lens.

3. In a filing appliance the combination as claimed in claim 1; wherein said side walls of said trough-like attachment portion of the folded member extending out through the longitudinal opening of said T-shaped groove of the channel bar member form flap-like portions adapted to receive between them the documents to be filed.

4. In a filing appliance the combination asclaimed in claim 1; wherein said side walls of the folded member have outer flap portions which are folded back against said side walls to extend into said longitudinal opening of the groove from outside the latter.

5. In a suspended file a file supporting member comprising a unitary channel bar of transparent plastic presenting a longitudinal groove of distinctly T-shaped crosssection having a relatively narrow and deep outer portion defined by the stem of said T-shaped cross-section and a relatively wide and shallow inner portion defined by the cap of said T-shaped cross-section with sharp corners between said outer and inner portions of the groove, the stem of the T-shaped cross-section forming the opening of the groove, said groove extending along the full length of said bar, a sheet material member folded into substantially T-shaped cross-section to present a substantially fiat bottom portion received in said wide inner portion of the groove and side walls extending from said bottom portion out of said groove through said narrow outer portion of the latter, said channel bar having free end portions extending beyond the ends of said folded member, and stoppers inserted in the groove of said free end portions of the channel bar to prevent longitudinal withdrawal of said folded member when the same has been received in said channel bar groove, said channel bar having a convex outer surface to act as a magnifying lens through which said flat bottom portion of the folded member received in said groove is exposed to view.

6. In a filing appliance the combination as claimed in claim 5; further comprising pocket-forming extension sheets suspended from said folded member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,619,760 3/1927 Rand 129-16.7 2,158,402 5/ 1939 Chamberlin 1291 2,513,127 6/1950 Wolters 40-23 2,603,219 7/1952 Jones 12916.7 3,159,411 12/1964 McKoWen 281-36 X FOREIGN PATENTS 485,104 7/1952 Canada. 1,014,750 6/ 1952 France. 1,121,188 4/ 1956 France. 1,266,414 5/1961 France. 1,371,271 7/1964 France.

784,023 10/7957 Great Britain.

JEROME SCHNALL, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A FILING APPLIANCE THE COMBINATION OF A FOLDED MEMBER OF THIN BUT RELATIVELY RIGID SHEET MATERIAL, SAID FOLDED MEMBER PRESENTING AN ELONGATE ATTACHMENT PORTION FORMED BY MERE FOLDING OF SAID SHEET MATERIAL ALONG A NUMBER OF PARALLEL FOLDING LINES, AND A CHANNEL BAR MEMBER OF TRANSPARENT MATERIAL HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING GROOVE THEREIN FOR RECEIVING SAID ATTACHMENT PORTION OF THE FOLDED MEMBER, SAID GROOVE OF THE CHANNEL BAR MEMBER EXTENDING ALONG THE FULL LENGTH THEREOF AND HAVING A T-SHAPED CROSS-SECTION PRESENTING SHARP CORNERS BETWEEN THE LATERALLY EXTENDING SHANKS AND THE STEM OF THE T, AND T-SHAPED CROSS-SECTION HAVING A WIDTH BETWEEN THE OUTER ENDS OF THE SHANKS THAT IS SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THE THICKNESS OF THE STEM AND A THICKNESS OF THE SHANKS THAT IS RELATIVELY SMALL AS COMPARED WITH SAID STEM THICKNESS, SAID ATTACHMENT PORTION OF THE FOLDED MEMBER TAKING THE FORM OF AN OPEN-ENDED THINWALLED TROUGH HAVING A CROSS-SECTION SUBSTANTIALLY CONFORMING TO INSIDE CONTOUR OF SAID T-SHAPED GROOVE OF THE CHANNEL BAR MEMBER AND PRESENTING A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT BOTTOM, THE EXTERNAL WIDTH OF WHICH SUBSTANTIALLY CORRESPONDS TO SAID WIDTH BETWEEN THE OUTER ENDS OF SAID SHANKS OF THE T-SHAPED CROSS-SECTION OF SAID GROOVE AND SUBSTANTIALLY EXCEEDS THE STEM THICKNESS THEREOF, AND EXTERNALLY CONCAVE SIDE WALLS SUBSTANTIALLY ACCOMMODATING THEMSELVES TO THE INNER SIDE WALL CONTOUR OF SAID T-SHAPED GROOVE AND BOTH EXTENDING OUT THROUGH THE LONGITUDINAL OPENING OF SAID GROOVE, SAID ATTACHMENT PORTION OF THE FOLDED MEMBER HAVING EXTERNAL MARKINGS THEREON VISIBLE THROUGH THE BOTTOM WALL PORTION OF SAID T-SHAPED GROOVE OF THE CHANNEL BAR MEMBER. 